Chargers over cap... Rivers restructures

I guess they really didn't have the money to pay Joey. REPORT: Philip Rivers restructures contract to free up cap space for Chargers

As I tweeted out yesterday, the Chargers were $2.8 million and change OVER the cap. For those of you wondering how that happened, during the pre-season only the top 51 salaries on the roster count. However, as soon as the pre-season is over and the teams cut down to 53, both the practice squad salaries, and the salaries of everyone on the IR, PUP, and Suspended lists also count. Which meant that the $1 mil and change from the PS and the $10 mil the Chargers have on the IR, all counted against the cap.

As the season officially started yesterday the Chargers needed to get back under the cap as soon as possible to avoid penalties from the league. I suggested the two fastest ways to get there would be to Re-sign Melvin Ingram to a long term deal, structured to reduce his $7.7 Mil cap number this year, OR to restructure Philip Rivers’ contract.

It appears they chose the latter.

Philip Rivers signed a restructured contract Wed. $6M of $16.5M salary this season moved to bonus. Creates $4.5M in cap space for Chargers.

The Chargers now sit at about $2.2 million in cap space, according to overthecap.com. This isn’t a lot of cushion should the team need to bring someone in mid season, however there are always ways to get creative with contracts, as long as the player agrees.